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Launched on 29 September 1993, this Vanguard-class nuclear submarine is continuing the Royal Navy’s proud record over more than 40 years of uninterrupted nuclear deterrence.
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Along with her three sister vessels, HMS Victorious’s role is to carry Trident – the United Kingdom’s strategic nuclear deterrent. She performs her duties silent and unheeded, patrolling the world’s oceans at depths greater than 250 metres beneath the surface.
Like the other Vanguard-class nuclear submarines, HMS Victorious has two captains and two crews, known as Port and Starboard. While one crew is manning the boat on the patrol, the other uses the opportunity for training and leave before taking their turn out at sea.
A third rate two-decker of 74 guns, the first Victorious was launched in London in April 1785. Such ships were regarded as the backbone of the British Fleet.
She saw action in the capture of Cape Town in 1795 before being transferred to the East Indies, where she served as the British Flagship. She was condemned in Gibraltar in 1803.
Her successor was launched in October 1808. As part of the Baltic Squadron, she saw action in the bombardment of Flushing (Vlissingen) in 1809 before defeating the French ship Rivoli.
Victorious operated for a couple of years in the West Indies and the American Eastern Seaboard before returning to Portsmouth in September 1814 to spend the rest of her career on harbour service.
The third Victorious was a 15,000 tonne Majestic-class pre-Dreadnought battleship, launched in Chatham in October 1895.
She spent many uneventful years in the Mediterranean and Channel Fleets before taking up a permanent mooring at Scapa Flow as a dockyard repair ship midway through First World War.
The fourth Victorious, an Illustrious-class armoured Fleet aircraft carrier of 23,000 tons, saw action around the world in World War Two during a distinguished career spanning almost 30 years.
HMS Victorious survived the desperate Operation Pedestal convoy to Malta in the summer of 1942, took part in the North Africa landings and then supported the Americans in the Pacific.
After another spell closer to home, when she took part in the attack on the Tirpitz, HMS Victorious returned to the Far East for the latter stages of the war.
The fourth Victorious was almost completely rebuilt in 1958 and continued her career in the Atlantic, Mediterranean and Far East before being withdrawn from service at very short notice in March 1968.
The fifth and current HMS Victorious, a Vanguard-class nuclear submarine, was laid down in 1987 and launched in 1993.
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Stealth. Endurance. Flexibility. These qualities make our Submarine Service the best in the world.
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